Governor valve



GOVERNOR VALVE. i APPLICATION HLED 1AN.2,1920. nENEwED Dic. 7,1921.

1,406,015. Patented Feb.7,1922,

20 /7 2g 2 SHEETS-SHEET l. L -'5; L /9' /9. /f

A. K. HINCHMAN.

GOVERNOR VALVE.

DEC. 7| |921.

Patented Feb. 7, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALVA K. HINCHMAN, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- FOURTH TO CHARLES H. MORTON ANI) ONE-FOURTH TO CHARLES H. QUIMBY, BOTH OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

GOVERNOR VALVE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application med January 2, 1920, serial No. 348,890. Renewea December 7, 1921. serieu No.' 520,718.

regulators and hasl for an obj ect to provide a` regulator' in the nature of a governor and valve for regulating and controlling the pressure of a fluid from Vits source of supply to the place of its disposition or use.

VAmong other features the invention corrprehends a governor and reducing valve which primarily provides for reducing'the pressure of the fluid from the source of supply so that it can be conveniently adapted to an engine system or some form of motive power at a. reduced pressure which is ofa pre-determined nature.

Further the invention comprehends an ap paratus which will govern the' flow of the fluid at a pre-determined pressure.

As an instance of the use of the invention,- the same may be adapted to the operation el" a. turbine. which is to be operated by a fluid having al pressure less than thepress'ure of the fluid in the boiler or other source of sup# ply and to this end the appara-tus will reduce the pressure of the fluid before it enters the turbine and maintain the fluid at 'this duced pressure so that the supply of the fluid at a reduced pressure to the turbine will bernaintained constant.

With the above objects in view the reduction in pressure assured by the apparatus together with the governing action whereby a constant pressure of the fluid is supplied,YK

- is brought about without the use of springs or other resilient mechanical'eleinents wh ich, because of the very nature of their construction and their use in connection with fluids such as steam and the like, are subject to variation and cannot accurately bring` about the reduction of a fluid tol a pre-determined pressure and maintain ythe fluid at the reducedV pressure. In my 'invention I' accomp-lish the above results by Ineansof an apparatus in which the various moving' parts' are positive and direct in their natureand in which the very fluid itself, is the resilient force which in combination with the valve and piston structure enables lne to accurately and constantly maintain and supply to a power medium, a fluid pressure which will be less than the pressure of the fluid yat the source of supply and which will be a constant factor, governed in' this manner by the very nature and operation of thepower or other unit to which the fluid is supplied.

ln the further disclosureof the'inventionreference is to be had to the accompanying drawings constituting a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference denote corresponding parts in all the views, and in whichf Figure l l-is a vertical sectional view taken through the structure.

Figure 2-is a` vertical Vsectional `view taken through the structure shown in Figure l, at right angles thereto and substantially on the line 2 2 in Figure l.

Figure B-isa yhorizontal sectional' view taken substantially on the line 3-8 in*v Fig ure2.' f Figure lu-is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially on the line 4 4 in Fig ure 2, and t, 4 e

Figure 5-.-is an enlarged verticalsectional view of one of the bypass unit-s, detached.

Referring tothe views and more particularly tov Figure l, l provide a casing l, having its upper portion preferably enlarged as. at 2 and' the lower portion correspondingly reduced as at 3. The enlarged or upper portion 2 provides a low pressure chamber s.

vwhile the reduced or lower portion `3 is formed to provide a high pressure` chamber 5. The lower end of the portion 3 is closed -by a coupling plate 6 which has connection in any suitable manner with a p-ipefleading from a. source of fluid supply, suchy as a. boiler or the like, (not shown). The coupling plate 6 is formed with an inner flange 7 providing a beveled sea-t 8 for avalve 9 correspondingly formed 11o-provide a perfect y fit with the'seat 8. f

The high and low pressure chambers Lland 5, are of course separated' by an interven-` ing wall l0, integral with the casing l, and which is formed with avertical bore 11 for a piston sternV l2, at the lower end of which is carried the valve 9 with a low pressure los i piston 13 carried on the upper end o't the valve stem, the said piston being ot' a considerably greater areaand tit-ting the low pressure cylinder 4. The body oi' the reduced or restricted portion 3, including the wall 10 is formed with a chamber or opening` 14 provided to permit of positioning suitable stuffing glands 15 in the bore 11 to provide suitable leak-proof joints between the high and low pressure cylinders as to the piston Vstem 12.

`threaded adjusting rods 18 which extend from the exterior to the interior o'f the low. pressure chamber' 4, which rods it will be seen, will limittlie upward moveniento't the piston 13, suitable lock nuts 19 being provided for holding the rods in their adjusted positionswith suitable knurled handles orv operating knobs 20 on the exterior portions of the rods. By reference to Figures 1 and V2,v it will be seen. that the upper portion ot the valve 9 is formed to provide a high pressure piston 21, operating within the reduced or restricted portion 3 off f the casing and which as will be hereinafter moie 'fully disclosed, comprehends a balancing chamber, designated by the numeral 26. Aplurality ofpassages 22 are formed in the body ort ,thecasing'to extend from' the high pressure chamber5 to the low pressure chamber d e and it will be apparent 'that the fluid entering the high pressure chamber 5, will upon operation oi the valve 9 and .piston 2l, permit the :fiuid to pass into the low pressure chamber l. g Y

Now, referring particularly to Figure .1, it will be seen that with the valve 9 normally seated'upon the valve seat 8, the flow oit a liuid'ot high pressure such as steam, to the apparatus described, will cause thevvalve 9,

to .be unseated permitting the fluid to enter the higlrpressurechamber,5, causing the fiuid to flow on through the passages 22, by

Y reason of the fact that the entrance of the fiuid into the high pressure chamber 5 and .its consequent unseating of the valve 9, will cause the piston 21 to be raised vertically, unooveringrthe passages 22, so that the fluid canV treely pass therethrough to the upper portion ofthe body and enter the low pressure chamber It will now beV apparent thatras the fluid builds up Vin the low pressure chamber 1, the latter having a` consid.

erably greater area than the area of the high pressure chamber 5, will bring about a downward movement of the piston rod 12 resulting in a partial or entire cuttingoff oi the passages 22 by the piston 21 and thus it will be apparent that a reduction oi the pressure ot the fluid will be brought about in the low pressure chamber 11 and as the fluid new passes on to the point 01"' consumption to operate the particular machine, turbine, heating or other pressure system, the operation of the latter will be brought about by a constant. supply of the fluid maintained at a constant reduced pressure when compared with theiiiitial pressurev ofthe fluid. as it'entered the lower part of the body.k

From what has been said it will be apparent that the operation of the structure described insures the Vcontrolling of the fluid from the source oi' supply such as the boiler,

to the place of luse and that when anexcess ot pressure is built up in the lowV pressure chamber li, the piston 21 will descend to par tially or entirely cut ofl the passages 22, reducing the supply of the steam or other iuidor entirely cutting it oft, as the caser` may be. l come -now to the means Vfor accurately and carefully regulating the valve and governing structure to the extent that any desired reducing pressure `or balancing. pressure can be obtained lendingto the ac-. curate and constant .operation withoutffluc tuation of the driven member or system. f

Thepiston 13 which is located in the low pressure chamber or cylinder 4 with the walls of the cylinder, forms an Iauxiliary chamber23 which might be termed a high pressure chaniber'on the low pressure side of 'the device, being in fact foi-ined in the upper enlarged portion'2 of the structure. This arrangement is somewhat similar to the relasure chamber 5 and the balancing chamber 26 with the intervening piston 21. yThe men- Y tioned chamber 23 is provided with an inlet port24i and an exhaust port 25 and the balancing chamber 26 has lanpinlet port 27 and an exhaust port 28. Distributing units 29` arebolted or otherwise secured to the body of the device, on op-posite sides thereof', and each is provided with a suitable three-way valve 30` journaled in theunit and having auxiliary passages 31, 32 the passage 31 being formed in the left hand unit, as shown in Figure 2 and the passage 32 in the right' hand unit, the former communicatingI with the inlet 24C and the latter with the outlet 25. Each three-way valve 30 includes a passage 33 which in the operation of the valve may be brought Vinto communication with the passage 31 on the lett yside of the appaiin Viis

ratus and the passage 32y on the rightside of I with a passage 34 formed in the body and leading to the balancing cylinder 26. S also the right hand unit is provided with a passa-ge 35 communicating with the passage 28 which is the outlet passage from the balancing cylinder. A passage 36 communicates with a passage 365L to a pipe 37 which has one end secured to the left hand unit and the other end connected to the coupling plate 6 at 38, the intake from the boiler. The pas sage 36 can of course also communicate with one of the passages of the three-way valve in the left hand unit, designated by the numeral 33a. The right hand unit has a vertical passage 39 whlch communicates with a vertical pipe 40 connecting with a passage 40a to the low pressure chamber 4 and the passage 39 'may communicate with a cross passage 39l in the three-way valve of the right hand unit which latter may communicate with a drain passage 41 .ending in a suitable drain cock 42 secured to the lower portion of the unit, a similar drain cock 43 beingiarranged on the left hand unit and having communication with the passage 36. The pipe 40 may be provided with any suitable valve or stop cock such as the one indicated at 44 and in order to insure a tight t between the units 29 and the body or casing 1, suitable gaskets 46 are provided and conveniently disposed as shown.

Recalling now that it is possible with thev construction set out in Figure 1, to regulate the flow of the fluid or steam from the high pressure intake to the low pressure outlet, it

' will now be seen that a further controlling and regulating action can be obtained when the high pressure fluid enters through the intake at the coupling plate 6, passes into the pipe 37 and thence through the passage 36a to the passage 36, passage 33a and passage 33 to the passage 34 and thence through the inlet 27 to the balancing cylinder or chamber 26. piston 21'to a further degree and the products of condensation in the balancing chamber or cylinder are removed through the outlet 28, passage 35 and thence by way of the three-way valve through the passage 39 to the pipe 40 and passage 40a into the low pressure chamber 4. So also the fluid passing through the pipe 37 and passages 36a and 36 to the three-way valve 30 of the left hand unit, can by mainipulating the three-way valve, be directed through the passage V31 to the inlet 24 and thence on into the chamber 23 sov that this pressure of fluid admitted to the chamber 23 can act to boost or balance the pressure in, the chamber 4, the products of condensation in this instance, passing out through the loutlet passage 25 and by way of the three-way valve through the drain cock 42 or on up through the pipe 40 tothe low pressureside of the piston 13, namely into the low pressure chamber 4. It

This will cause depressionof theV must be borne in mind that the degree of opening or closing of the tlgee-way valves will of course regulate the amount and extent of the fluid admitted and that with the structure setout there is provided a means for reducing and controlling the flow and eXtent of' a high pressure Huid to obtain a low pressure fluid and control the flow thereof to the particular machine, apparatus or system that is to be operated.

In Vmany reducing valves used heretofore,

various forms of resilient members such asy springs and the like have been employed with suitable means for increasing or decreasing the resilient action of the lsprings in order that a subsequent reduction of a high pressure can be obtained. As mentioned however the springs are not unfailing and particularly in cases where they are subjected to the action of a high pressure steam, they do not last and if not closely Watched and properly attended to, will bring about a liuctation and a resultant low pressure which in turn will prevent proper steady and accurate Voperation of the driven machine or system to which the low pressure is applied.

I am aware that various forms of reducing valves havebeen'employed heretofore and wherein the use of steam for instance in connection with certain apparatus, permits of the steam which is admitted to operate ther valve, passing to the 'opposite side or end of the valve and operating thereon as a compensator for controlling the supply of the steamto the valve. I aim however to not only control the supply of the high pres sure steam, but to regulate its movement, reduce its pressure and bring about a situation wherein the reduced pressure of steam will be constant and can be regulated so that whether the driven power is a turbine, a heating system or a pump, the particular amount and pressure of steam which it must of necessity have to bring about its proper operation, can be supplied by a mere initial regulation of my apparatus and to such degrec that the very steam itself will act as the cushioning and'bala'ncing medium to bring about a constant supply of the steam at a reduced pressure vwithout danger of fluctuation.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is py 1'. A governor jvalve for fluid engines including va casing having independent high and low pressure chambers, means establishingcommunication between said chambers, a valve controlling fluid pressure tothe high pressure chamber and simultaneously controlling thefluid pressure to thelow pressure chamber from said high pressure chamber, a piston under the influence of the pressure in the low pressure chamber for actuating the valve, said piston and valve coopl erating with the casing in forming auxiliary high and low pressure chambers, means controlling fluid pressure to thc auxiliary chambers, and means conductingrthe fluid pressure from said auxiliary chambers to the low pressure chamber.

, 2. A governor valve for fluid engines comprising a casing having high and low pressure chambers, an integral wall separating said chambers, a piston stem slidable--through said'wall, a combined valve and piston secured to one end of the stem and operable in the high pressure chamber, a piston secured to the other end ofthe stem and of a diameter greater than the diameter of the combined valve and piston and operable in the low pressure chamber, means limiting the upward movement of said piston, means establishing communication from the high pressure chamber to the low pressure chamber, and controlled by the action of the combined piston and valve, means admitting fluid pressure to the high pressure chamber and controlled by the action of the combined piston and valve, said combined piston and valve and the piston defining auxiliary high and low pressure chambers, means admitting fiuid pressure to the auxiliary cham'- bers, andl means conducting the fluid pressure from the auxiliary chambers to the low pressure chamber. n Y

3. A governor valve comprising a casing, high and low pressure chambers in said casing,a high pressure piston in the high pressurey chamber, a low pressure piston in the low pressure chamber, a rod connecting said pistons to simultaneously operate the same, an Vinlet to the high pressure chamber, a valve in juXta-position to the high pressure piston, moving the latter with the former, passages from the high pressure chamber to thelow pressure chamber and having their inlets interposed betweenthe valveV and the high pressure piston, the latter normally closing the inlets to the passages when the valve isk seated to close the inlet to the high pressure chamber, and .conduit means communicatin with the inlet to the high pressure cham er below the valve ltherein and afordin connection with and communication to tie low pressure chamber to one side of the piston therein.

4. A governor valve comprising a casing, high and low pressure chambers in said casing, a high pressure piston in the high pressure chamber, a low pressure piston in the low pres-- sure chamber, a rod connecting Said pistons to simultaneously operate the same, an inlet to the high pressure chamber, a valve in juXta-position to the'high pressure piston, movino the latter with the former, passages from ie high pressure chamber to the low ressure chamber and having their inlets interposed between the valve and the high pressure' piston, the latter normally closing the inlets to the passages when the Vvalveis seated to close the inlet to the high pressure chamber, conduit means communicating with the inlet to the high pressure chamber below the valve therein and affording connection with and communication to the low pressure chamber to one side of the piston therein and valves for controllingthe liow of a fluid through said conduit means to the said low pressure chamber.

5. A auxiliary valve comprising a casing, high and low pressure chambers in said casing, a main inlet to said high pressure chamber, a pistonin the high pressure chamber, a piston inthe low pressure chamber, a valve in juxta-position to the piston in the high pressure chamber for closing the inlet thereto, passages from the high pressure chamber tothe low pressure chamber and normally closed by the piston in the high pressure chamber whenV the valve is seated to close'the Vmain inlet, independent auxiliary passages from the said' inlet to thelow pressure chamber and valves therefor, controlling the supply of a fluid from the inlet to the said low pressure chamber. l

` 6. A governor valve comprising a casing, high and low pressure chambers in said casing, pistons, one .for each of said chambers, passages from the high pressure chamberV to the low pressure chamber, an inlet to the high pressure chamber, a valve co-operating with said pistons controlling the flowof iiuid through said inlet to the high pressure chamber and when seated, having the piston in the high pressure chamber closing the passages of the low pressure chamber, a balancing chamber :formed in the casing on the side of the piston opposite to the side thereof, forming one end of the high pressure chamber, valve controlled auxiliary passages communicating with the low pressure chamber and with kthe balancing chamber and a'conduit connection between said inlet and said valve and auxiliary passages for supplying fluid from the inlet to the latter for the admission of Vthe fluid to the low pressure chamberor said balancing chamber, depending Yupon th position of the valve.

7. A governor valve comprising a casing, high and low pressure chambers in said casing, pistons, one for each of said chambers, passages from the high pressure chamber to the low pressure chamber, an inlet to the high pressure chamber, a valve cooperating with said pistons controllingthe flow of fluid through said inlet to the high pressure chamber and when seated,rhaving the piston in the high pressure chamber closing the passages of the low pressure chamber, a balancing chamber formed in the casing on the side of the piston opposite fto the side thereof, forming' o ne end of the high pressure chamber, valve Vcontrolled a conduit connection between said last mentioned valve and the auxiliary exhaust passages for controlling the flow of the exhaust 15 fluid to the lovsT pressure chamber to one side of the piston therein.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of Witnesses.

ALVA K. HINCHMAN. Witnesses R. R. EVANS, D. M. KNOWLTON, R. V. JEWETT. 

